The American Mind

Tomorrow night we’re “blessed” with another Presidential debate-that-isn’t. In South Carolina Fox News will be hosting the second gathering of Republican Presidential candidates.

If the first debate earlier this month in Southern California showed anything, it was that the top-tier candidates have as much to lose as they stand to gain. While a former Massachusetts governor, Mitt Romney, was widely praised for his performance, Mayor Giuliani is, 10 days later, still facing questions about his responses on abortion.

With substantive but occasionally stilted and rehearsed answers, Senator McCain did well enough to hold his position among the leaders, but he did little to advance.

The format is largely unchanged for tomorrow’s debate, which will take place on the University of South Carolina campus in Columbia. Ten candidates will answer questions for 90 minutes on just about any topic; the event will be broadcast live on Fox News, with anchor Brit Hume serving as moderator.

While the format affords longshots — such as a Texas congressman, Rep. Ron Paul, and a Colorado lawmaker running on an anti-immigration platform, Rep. Tom Tancredo — a rare opportunity to reach a national audience, the leading campaigns are grumbling. Candidates have 30 seconds or a minute to answer questions, giving them little time to provide details or fully explain their views.

There’s no debate at these events. The candidates just answer questions from the moderator. The candidates don’t like this format. The front runners are on the same level as the longshots. Also, with 10 candidates on stage there’s little time to actually say anything other than their talking points. There’s also no time to engage with one another and actually debate. I want to see Jim Gilmore challenge Mitt Romney’s conservative conversion. Let’s see Sen. Sam Brownback take on Rudy Giuliani over abortion and the former mayor’s Planned Parenthood donations. Even though he’s nuts I want Rep. Ron Paul to make Sen. John McCain defend his Iraq War strategy. Conflict sharpens the mind and prepares the candidates for the battle they’ll have to fight against the Democratic nominee. If we’re going to have these psuedo-debates so damn early they might as well be useful.

“Leading Campaigns Grumble About Debate Format“